“McDermott, a Democrat from Washington, introduced the bill along with Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee from Florida. The bill alters the tax status of health benefits granted to the spouses of gay employees. Under the bill, such benefits would no longer be considered taxable income for the employee.

“McDermott told the New York Times that the bill would ‘correct a longstanding injustice, end a blatant inequity in the tax code and help make health care coverage more affordable for more Americans.’

“A report released in 2007 by M. V. Lee Badgett, research director at the Williams Institute, found that gay employees with partners pay, on average, $1,069 per year more in taxes than would a married employee with the same coverage.

“‘Collectively, unmarried couples lose $178 million per year to additional taxes,’ the report says. ‘U.S. employers also pay a total of $57 million per year in additional payroll taxes because of this unequal tax treatment.'”